Chapter 323 Chief Yan is also here to join in the fun
The Chief of Staff of the Japanese Army Headquarters in Taiyuan walked up to Yoshio Shinozuka with a face full of expectations: "Your Excellency, Commander, the intervening troops just received a call. They are already in place and are seizing the time to build blocking positions..."
As he spoke, he marked the specific location of the intersecting troops on the sand table.
"These four points are the only way for the New First Regiment and the New Second Regiment to reinforce the Independent Regiment. As long as they are nailed here and do not let a single soldier pass, the Independent Regiment will become a lonely army!"
"How are the preparations for the mopping up troops?" Yoshio Shinozuka continued to ask.
"The three-way sweep forces are all in place and ready to go at any time!"
"In addition to the fifteen days of ammunition supplies prepared by Taiyuan, the garrison in northwestern Shanxi also prepared five days of ammunition supplies for them, and recruited one hundred carts and three hundred mules and horses for each mopping up force!"
"If there are wounded in the army during the battle, they will be transported directly by mules, horses and carts, without wasting combat troops and without affecting the marching speed of the troops!"
Yoshio Shinozuka said very satisfied: "They have thought very carefully!"
"Send me the order: The mopping up troops will start taking action at eight o'clock tomorrow morning!"
"After entering the independent regiment's base area, no unit can advance alone..."
"The distance between the three-way sweep forces cannot exceed thirty kilometers... During the sweep process, vigilance must be strengthened. No troops can be divided without orders from the military headquarters!"
"As long as we don't give the Independent Regiment a chance to defeat each other, the three-way sweep force keeps moving forward along the highway, even if it only advances ten kilometers a day... we can sweep across the Independent Regiment's base area in half a month and wipe out all enemies!"
At the headquarters of the Baipogou Independent Regiment, it was already two o'clock in the morning, and correspondents and combat staff... were still coming in and out, very busy.
Li Wensheng was leading two staff officers to summarize the enemy information they had just received and mark the relevant information on the map, which would make the battlefield more clear.
"The current trends of the Japanese and puppet troops are exactly the same as we judged!" Kong Jie stared at the map and analyzed.
"The intersecting troops divided into four lines to block us...the mopping up troops divided into three lines to attack us..."
"If the Japanese didn't carry so many heavy artillery, the blocking positions and bunkers we built along the highway would surely have severely damaged them. What a pity!"
Huang Yu was in a very good mood. After Kong Jie finished speaking, he assured him confidently: "Don't worry, commander, I will definitely not waste those blocking positions and machine gun bunkers!"
"We previously planned to use a blocking position and several bunkers to kill more than a hundred Japanese and puppet troops. Now that the enemy has stepped up their vigilance and brought a large number of heavy artillery to counter our bunkers, I decided to reduce the target of killing the enemy to fifty people."
"As long as fifty Japanese and puppet troops are killed in one blocking position, our blocking positions and bunkers will have been built in vain."
Kong Jie's mood suddenly improved a lot. He looked at Huang Yu and said with satisfaction: "Do you know how many lines of defense we have built on the three highways?"
"A total of 62..."
"If a blocking position can really kill fifty Japanese and puppet troops, that means more than 3,000 Japanese and puppet troops, accounting for 20% of the mopping up troops. Are you really confident?"
"Yes..." Huang Yu answered confidently!
"If you don't have that diamond, you can't do the porcelain work... If a blocking position cannot eliminate even fifty Japanese and puppet troops, my military order to kill more than 2,000 Japanese and puppet troops before the decisive battle will not be completed!"
"As long as the regiment headquarters determines the target for the decisive battle, I will lead the assault battalion, special forces team, and engineer company to set off now... and get into trouble with the little Japs as soon as possible!"
"Hit the middle road to mop up the troops!" Kong Jie said his decision seriously.
"The Japanese and puppet troops' attack route in the middle is located in the hinterland of the base...there are several good places for ambushes along the route...the independent regiments have more options to attack them and can adjust their deployment at any time!"
"I'm going to arrange the troops now... we'll set off in an hour!" Huang Yu didn't waste any time, and hurriedly left the regiment headquarters after speaking.
Kong Jie immediately turned his attention to Li Wensheng: "Xiao Huang has already started taking action, we can't be left behind!"
"I am responsible for contacting Lao Li and Lao Ding and asking them to send troops to reinforce us as soon as possible!"
"The chief of staff is responsible for contacting the Jinsui Army who is trading with us..."
"Be sure to buy all the mines, grenades, and artillery shells that Xiao Huang has agreed with them... the more the better, it doesn't matter if the price is a little higher!"
"I remember Xiao Huang told me that sooner or later, I will make them spit out all their capital and profits. I believe Xiao Huang!"
At the headquarters of the 354th Regiment of the Jinsui Army, Captain Zhou was hiding in his room calculating his gains from the upcoming transaction. He was in a very good mood, and bursts of laughter could be heard from time to time.
"Bang bang bang..."
A knock on the door suddenly interrupted his sweet dream, and he raised his head ready to curse.
As a result, before I could say anything, I heard the guard's anxious report: "Regiment leader, a colonel has come to the war zone with a lot of people. He is waiting for you in the war room..."
Captain Zhou was shocked, thinking that his superiors had found out about his reselling of arms, so he quickly put away his account books, packed his military uniforms and walked out.
When he reached the door, he turned back to the bed, picked up three small yellow croakers and put them in his pocket, just in case of emergency...
"Director Wang... Why didn't you tell me beforehand that you came to our 354th group?" Seeing that the other party was an acquaintance, Captain Zhou breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly walked over to say hello!
"Brother, I dare not not come on a mission assigned by Shangfeng?" Director Wang replied with a smile.
Captain Zhou subconsciously asked: "What task is so important that you, the deputy director of the Logistics Department, should personally come forward..."
"The superiors already know about your arms purchase and sale with the Eighth Route Army!" Director Wang didn't waste any time and directly stated his purpose.
Captain Zhou was so frightened that he almost collapsed on the ground, but he still decided to struggle, pretending to be confused and said: "Buying arms with the Eighth Route Army, how is this possible!"
"I admit that I have resold arms, but only to the bandits in northwestern Shanxi, so that they can fight against the Eighth Route Army and the Japanese. This is the same as Chief Yan using the Japanese to consume the strength of the Eighth Route Army. It should not be a big deal!
"
"Director Wang, please don't accuse me unjustly. I'm going to be beheaded..."
"Bandits?" Director Wang asked with a sneer: "Do you think a bandit can eat thousands of rifles, dozens of light and heavy machine guns... hundreds of thousands of rounds of ammunition?"
"As far as I know, the arms you have resold in the past few months can equip a regiment!"
"Except for the towns occupied by the Japanese and puppet troops, the rest of northwest Shanxi was occupied by the Eighth Route Army. Where did such large-scale bandits come from? It's impossible that you don't know these things. Don't pretend to be confused here!"
Captain Zhou had indeed known for a long time that the person he was dealing with was the Eighth Route Army, and he had thought of stopping.
But money and silk are very attractive... I got too many benefits from doing arms business with the Eighth Route Army.
Then he turned a blind eye and continued to trade with the other party as a bandit...
I didn't expect that I was doing things so secretly, and was eventually discovered by my superiors.
Seeing Director Wang's serious face, Captain Zhou subconsciously felt that he was here to catch him, so he quickly took out three small yellow croakers that he had prepared in advance, handed them to him quietly, and continued to explain.
"Director Wang, calm down. I really didn't know they were the Eighth Route Army pretending to be the Eighth Route Army. You must save me!"
"If I knew they were the Eighth Route Army...I would not sell weapons to them at all!"
For the sake of the little yellow croaker, Director Wang did not intend to continue arguing with Commander Zhou on this issue, and continued to ask: "I heard that you are about to conduct a deal with the Eighth Route Army, mainly focusing on grenades, mines, artillery shells, bullets, and gunpowder?
"
"No deal, I will contact the adjutant now to cancel this deal!" Captain Zhou said immediately.
"They will never buy a gun or a bullet from me again!"
After saying that, he ordered the guard on the side: "What are you still doing?"
"Tell the adjutant to stop the transaction immediately. From now on, we will no longer resell a gun or a bullet!"
After hearing this, the guard was about to rush out, but was stopped by Director Wang: "Why are you so anxious? I haven't finished speaking yet!"
"This transaction between you and the Eighth Route Army cannot be suspended unless progress is made, and the scale of the transaction must be further expanded!"
"Tell me: How much ammunition are you planning to sell to the Eighth Route Army in this transaction?"
Captain Zhou didn't know what Director Wang's real purpose was, but he knew that he was a dead fish on the other side's chopping block, and he could do whatever he wanted to do with it.
He had no intention of resisting at all and just told the truth: "A total of 100,000 rounds of ammunition, 2,000 grenades, 500 landmines, 200 rounds of artillery shells, 200 kilograms of high explosives..."
"It was put together by several neighboring groups, and the money from the sale is shared equally by everyone!"
Just when Captain Zhou felt that he was about to face a violent storm, Director Wang, who was standing in front of him, was not angry. Instead, he asked with a thoughtful look on his face: "Minus the ammunition to be sold to the Eighth Route Army, the 354th Regiment
How much ammo are left?”
Captain Zhou didn’t understand why Director Wang would ask this question, but he still answered honestly: “Including the ammunition in stock and the ammunition carried by the soldiers, the 354th Regiment still has a total of 350,000 rounds of various bullets, grenades, etc.
Nine thousand, 1,600 mines, 1,600 mortar shells, 400 mountain artillery shells, and 1,200 kilograms of explosives!"
"Why are there so many... I remember that the full strength of the 354th Regiment is less than 3,000 men. According to the standard supply of ordinary troops, your ammunition should only be 200,000 rounds?" Director Wang asked with a puzzled look.
Commander Zhou was embarrassed to answer: "Didn't we win several battles before? In order to make up for the battle losses, the theater sent us more than 300,000 rounds of ammunition one after another..."
"Sold part of it to the Eighth Route Army and kept the rest!"
"What about the losses you incurred in fighting the Japanese?" Director Wang continued to ask.
Captain Zhou lowered his head and replied: "We didn't fight any big battles. The trophies handed over to the war zone were all bought from the Eighth Route Army..."
Director Wang understood and was very angry. However, he was only the deputy director of the Logistics Department. No matter how dissatisfied he was, he could not overstep his authority and decisively dropped the topic.
